


Summer Vacation

by Faith280



Category: Red vs Blue
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-05-19 19:55:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19363252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: The Grif-Simmons kids are bored with their summer. Simmons thinks this is the perfect time to take them to Earth to meet their grandmothers. Grif could do without the travel.With Simmons over-planning the perfect summer vacation, what could go wrong...





	1. Chapter 1

 

“Mira, it’s way past your bedtime, go to sleep!”

  
“But Daddy, it’s summertime, and this is a slumber party!”

  
Simmons and Grif were watching little Maddie while Dr. Grey and Carolina were on their honeymoon for the weekend. Mira’s twin, Jake, was willingly bunking with their older brother Dex, so the girls could stay together.

  
Maddie was usually an angel, but she had been spending too much time with Mira and was having fun imitating her. Grif thought it was funny, but it was driving Simmons crazy.

  
Maddie sat up from her bed. “Yeah Uncle Simmons, it’s a slumber party.”

  
Simmons rolled his eyes. He knew the almost two year old didn’t know what the word really meant. He kind of doubted Mira did either. They both heard it from Dr. Grey.

  
He frowned at his five year old daughter. “You see? You’re a bad influence on Maddie.” He re-tucked the little girl back under the covers, and kissed her cheek.

“Do not listen to anything Mira says. Now can you be a good girl and go back to sleep; for me?”

  
He gave her a pleading look. She giggled at him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Besides her two mothers, she loved Simmons the best.

  
He and Grif almost adopted her, since she had nowhere to go, but Dr. Grey stepped in and adopted her. He hated to admit it, but even though he couldn’t adopt her, he kind of liked having two daughters. At least she was better behaved than his actual daughter was.

  
She smiled adoringly up at him. “K’ Uncle Simmons.” She closed her eyes and really tried to fall asleep.

  
Simmons went over to try to tuck Mira in. She squirmed away from him and covered herself back up. He sighed, she was always so damned stubborn. He tried to give her a kiss, but she turned away and faced the wall.

He gave up, she would always be Grif’s girl and never his.  
He got up to turn off the light. He caught Mira peeking at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. “I love you Mira.”

  
She turned to look at him, she finally had a smile on her face. “I love you too Daddy.”

  
He smiled back. She was upset about the slumber party, but she wasn’t that mad at him. It would have to do. He switched off the light and hoped she would actually go to sleep this time.

  
He peeked in Dex’s room to check on Jake. He was fast asleep, the picture book he had been reading, was lying on him. Simmons quietly moved the book to not wake him. He stirred a little, but didn’t wake up. Simmons noticed he fell asleep with his glasses on again.

  
He had already broken two pairs of glasses in the two years that he had to wear them. Simmons slipped them off. It woke Jake up.

“Hi Daddy, sorry about my glasses. I didn’t know I fell asleep.” He yawned and tried to wake up.

  
“No honey, you can go back to sleep, it’s okay about the glasses. Dex will coming to join you soon.”

  
Like with the girls, he tucked his son in. Jake held out his arms for a hug. Simmons held him close and kissed the top of his head. Where Mira was more attached to Grif, Jake was Simmons’ little clone. The two had been super close ever since Jake was born.

  
In the living room, Dex was playing video games with Grif. Simmons stood by the couch to watch. “Finish up this game, then its time for bed.”

  
Dex made a face. “Aww Dad, I should be able to stay up longer than this.”

  
Ever since he turned seven, he had the ego that he was too grown up to be treated like a little kid. Simmons was missing the sweet little boy that he used to be. Even after Grif turned off the X-box, Dex sat and pouted at the blank screen.

  
Grif gently punched him in the arm. “Hey dude, listen to your Dad. The aliens will still be there tomorrow for us to shoot, just you and me.”

  
Dex gave a small smile. “Okay Dad, Good night.”

  
Simmons tried to give him a hug when he went past, but he dodged out of the way. Simmons hung his head and tried not to be hurt. Dex changed his mind, and went to give him a big hug. “Night Dad.”

  
“Night buddy. Be careful to not wake your brother up.”

  
Grif yawned and stretched out on the couch. “I know it’s early, but what do you say we go to bed too. We don’t know how early the doc and Carolina are coming in tomorrow.” He tried to pull Simmons down on the couch beside him.

  
Simmons almost went for it, then he moved away at the same time Grif made a grab for him. Poor Grif almost ended up on the floor. “Hey watch it there nerd!” He was half laughing as he got situated again on the couch.

  
“I need to print out the vacation itineraries. That’s why I was fighting with the kids to get them to go to sleep. If certain people would help me, I’d already have them printed out.”

  
Grif made a face, and ignored his comment. “Great, So this is gonna be yet another vacation that isn’t gonna be a vacation cause you gotta suck all the fun out of it.”

  
Simmons’ feelings were hurt. “I do not. This is the kids’ first visit to Earth, the first time visiting their Grandmothers. This is a big deal, there’s a lot to see, and I want to make sure they have fun.”

  
“If you want them to have fun, then let’s wing it and see where the vacation ends up. We don’t need an itinerary to have fun.”

  
He felt like throwing Simmons’ damned computer out the window. He would live on that thing if Grif would let him.

  
Simmons thought about it. “Well, I really should get some work done…”

  
Grif grabbed ahold of his sleeve and pulled him in the direction of their bedroom. “Do it tomorrow.”

  
“But tomorrow we have to pack.” He didn’t get far with his arguing. Grif dragged him into the bedroom.

  
“Oh my god, let it go, just chill out here with me. The kids are asleep, let’s enjoy the quiet.”

  
Simmons let his guard down. He leaned his head on Grif’s shoulder as they sprawled out on the bed together. They hardly ever had enough time together.

  
Mira’s yell shattered the peacefulness in the house. “Slumber party!” She and Maddie came running in the bedroom. Mira was dragging a still half asleep Jake behind her. Dex followed behind, wondering what his sister was doing.

  
Mira jumped up on the bed and into Grif’s arms.“You can’t go to sleep yet Daddies, it’s a slumber party.”

  
Maddie tried to climb up beside Simmons, but she couldn’t reach. Jake lifted her up and she snuggled up in the middle between him and Grif. Jake climbed up beside Simmons.

  
Dex gave in. “Oh well, why not?” He sprawled out at the foot of the bed.

  
Grif groaned and then laughed at Simmons’ reaction. “Why try to fight it? You should have known Mira would win.”

  
She looked at Simmons with an innocent look on her face. “See Daddy, I told you this was a slumber party, now it is.”

  
He sighed and gave up. “Yeah, you win.”

He cuddled the kids closer to him. It looked like none of them were getting any sleep tonight.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Despite getting almost no sleep, Simmons was up bright and early. He determined to plan the perfect vacation schedule. It was best for him to work while the house was quiet.

  
The kids fell asleep with Simmons and Grif and neither one had the heart to move them. Simmons woke up with Jake and Maddie in his arms, while Grif had Mira and Dex laying on him.

  
After two hours of hard work, he put together a travel itinerary that he felt would work out for his family. He wished he had a nice planner to put it in. He’d have to have to run down to the store later and get one.

  
He heard Maddie waking up. “Uncle Simmons, I’m up.” She had slid off the bed and went running off to find him. He met her in the hallway and scooped her up in his arms.

  
“Gotcha sweetie. It’s time to get to dressed. Your Moms will be coming home today.”

  
“Yay!”

  
By the time he got Maddie dressed and was starting her breakfast, Jake came out dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. Simmons grabbed him a bowl from the cupboard.

  
“Morning buddy, here, you can make your breakfast.” Simmons finished mashing up Maddie’s banana for her. “Is anyone else up yet?”

  
He shrugged. “I tried to waking Dex and Mira. Daddy was snoring too loud to hear me.”

  
“Typical, I’ll check on them in a little bit, I need some coffee before your Dad comes in and drinks it all.”

  
He heard the commotion from the bedroom. Dex was yelling at Mira.

“C’mon, quit hogging the bathroom! Dad, Mira’s locking me out on purpose!”

  
Jake smiled at Simmons. “They’re up.”

  
“Tell me about it.” He groaned and reluctantly got up from the table. “Keep an eye on Maddie for me.”

  
By the time Simmons got there, Grif was awake and crabby. “Damn, I feel like I didn’t sleep, thanks to the kids.” He stumbled into the kitchen for his coffee. He ruffled Jake’s and Maddie’s hair as he went past. “Morning kiddos.”

  
Jake went to pour him a glass of orange juice so he could have a healthier alternative to his morning coffee. “Here Daddy, this is for you.”

  
He made a face, but he did take it. “Thanks Jakey.” Maddie held her out her arms for her morning hug. Despite his bad mood, Grif couldn’t resist. He had to admit that he felt a little better. Too bad it wouldn’t work for Simmons.

  
He had to yell at both Dex and Mira. Dex came to the kitchen in a huff, grabbed a bowl and ate his cereal without talking to anyone. Simmons brought out Mira.

  
Her tangled ginger curls were pulled back into a ponytail because she wouldn’t let him brush out her hair. She wore her favorite orange t-shirt that clashed with her hair just to spite him.

  
“I am never letting you guys stay up late again. Now everybody’s crabby.”

  
Grif grinned and tried to give away his orange juice. “There, it’ll make you feel better.”

  
He glared at him. “Just drink it and behave.” He brought out his trip itinerary to show to Grif. “I worked all morning on this. This is the schedule we’re going to go buy for tomorrow.” He looked so proud.

  
Grif looked interested. “Can I see that?”

  
Simmons felt honored. “Sure you can.”

  
Grif took the papers and casually threw them into the wastebasket. “There, that’s where they belong.”

  
Poor Simmons was shocked. “What are you doing? I worked so hard on those!” He fished them out and shook off the coffee grounds. He looked totally injured.

  
“For the last time, we do not need a schedule to have fun.”

  
There was a knock at door. Simmons looked over and saw it was Wash. “Come on in Wash.” He didn’t even bother going to the door. It was that kind of morning.

  
Wash came in, closely followed by his young son, David. Tucker and Chloe lagged behind, neither one looked happy. Only little David was in a good mood.

  
Grif noticed. “You came to the right place. No one is in a good mood around here.”

  
Chloe hung back by the door. She wouldn’t talk to anyone. Wash tried to encourage her, but she looked all sullen. Simmons looked concerned. “Are you alright Chloe?”

  
She shrugged, but wouldn’t talk. Wash had to step in. “Somebody had to go to the orthodontist yesterday for braces, and she’s still not happy about it.”

  
Chloe looked like she was going to cry. “I look stupid in them. When school starts, all the kids will make fun of me, and my mouth hurts.”

  
Wash rolled his eyes. “Do you realize how many of your classmates probably have braces themselves? You’re still beautiful even with them on. Your teeth are more important than your looks anyway.”

  
Chloe started crying and Tucker tried to comfort her. “You know Wash, I still say this was a bad idea. Her teeth weren’t that bad, it could have waited until she was older.”

  
Wash sighed, they’ve been through this before. “Because they would have gotten worse. This way, we caught it in time. She won’t need to wear the braces very long.”

  
Tucker and Chloe didn’t look convinced. Wash looked sympathetic, he wanted everyone to be in a good mood. “How about we all go outside? The fresh air will do us some good.” He didn’t want to fight with Tucker anymore.

  
Simmons forced his family outside. The kids did enjoy playing in the swing set. Everything was looking better. A loud, shrieking voice broke the quiet.

  
“Heelloo, anyone home?”

  
Grif cringed, Dr. Grey’s piercing voice always gave him a migraine. Simmons though, enjoyed her company. “We’re out here Emily, come on back.”

  
David was helping Maddie play with the slide, when she saw her mothers coming. “Momma, I missed you!” She ran into Grey’s arms.

  
“I missed you too.” She turned to Simmons. “I hope she behaved for you.”

  
Simmons nodded. “She’s better behaved than my kids are.”

  
There was fight starting by the swings. Chloe was crying while Dex was laughing at her. Out of nowhere, she hit him right in the face. Wash was horrified. “Chloe, what’s wrong with you? You know better than to hit anyone.”

  
Dex’s nose was bleeding, he couldn’t get it to stop. Simmons went to help him. “It’s not all her fault.” He glared lightly at his son. “What did you say to her that got you smacked?”

  
He mumbled while looking down at the ground. “Nothing much, I was only kidding around with her.”

  
Chloe was still crying and couldn’t stop. Tucker put his arms around her and tried to calm her down. “He was making fun of my braces. Anyway, it was Aunt Carolina who taught me how to throw a punch.”

  
Wash shot Carolina a look. Her face turned red. “Don’t blame this on me Chloe. I taught you for self defense, not to slug your friend.”

  
Dr. Grey tried to be the peacekeeper. “Alrightee, we’re all getting a liiitle bit tense right now. Let’s just regroup and try being friends again.”

  
Chloe calmed down, the kids started playing again, and Grif took Dex inside to get some ice for his nose. He looked amused as he tried to give him some advice. “Get used to it now Dex. Girls only get worse as they get older.”

  
Simmons looked around at the chaos and shook his head. What a day it’s been. He couldn’t wait to take this vacation.

  
This has been the longest summer ever.  



	3. Chapter 3

 

“Grif, aren’t you even packed yet? We’re leaving early in the morning you know.”

  
He saw Grif’s empty suitcase sitting in the bed. His own suitcase had been packed, all neat and organized, hours ago. Grif was playing a game on his phone, he wasn’t even listening to his husband.

“Sure, I’ll get to it.”

  
Simmons frowned at him. “Put the phone away, or I’m taking it away. It’s bad enough I have to pack for the three kids, I don’t want a fourth kid. Just help me out this once.”

  
Grif sighed dramatically as he set his phone in the nightstand and threw clothes at random from his dresser into the suitcase. He wasn’t paying attention to what he was packing.

  
Simmons saw it and cringed. He knew he would be re-packing that bag later. He left to check on how far the kids got with their packing.

  
“Knock knock Dex. How’s the packing coming?”

Like Grif, he was sprawled out on the bed, playing a video game on his phone. Simmons knew they shouldn’t have gotten him a phone for his birthday.

  
“Dexter, put the phone away right now. Did you finish packing?”

  
He made a face. He hated being called by his full name as much as Grif did.

“Almost, I wanted to finish this one game first.”

  
Simmons sighed, the older he got, the more he acted like Grif. It was bad enough that the two looked so much alike. He saw the empty suitcase sitting in the same place he set it an hour ago. He reached over and took the phone out of Dex’s hand.

  
“Hey!”

  
Simmons ignored him and pulled out his dresser drawers. “You need enough clothes for two weeks, what all do you want to take?”

  
“Dad, come on, I’m not one of the little kids. I can pack my own bag.” He looked so annoyed at his father.

  
Again, Simmons tried not to be hurt by Dex’s attitude. He knew to expect it from Mira, but he and Dex had always been buddies. He looked at his oldest son for a moment before backing away.

  
“Yeah, I know you’re not a little kid anymore. Go ahead and pack your own bag. Let me know if you need any help.”

  
He went to the twins’ room next. He found Jake lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He looked lost in his own thoughts. Mira was chattering to her stuffed animals. She was having a tea party with them. Simmons smiled fondly at what an imagination she had.

  
“How are you guys doing with the packing?” He tapped Jake’s arm, it brought him back to reality. He looked awfully worried. “What’s wrong Jakey?”

  
“My bag is all packed up Daddy, but I don’t know about going on the trip.”

  
“Why not, what’s wrong?”

  
“I was never in a shuttle before, I don’t know if I’ll like it.”

  
Simmons’ own stomach lurched at the thought. He hated space travel, he always got air sick, and odds are, Jake would too. But he certainly couldn’t tell him that.

  
“Well you know, I don’t like the flying part either, but I’ve learned to deal with it. I’ll be there with you, we all will. You don’t have to go through it alone. You’ll be just fine.”

  
He still didn’t look convinced. “But what about my grandmothers?”

  
“What about them?” Simmons looked confused.

  
“What if they hate me? What if they’re mean like the grandfather was? I don’t think I want to go.”

  
“What are you talking about, you met both of them over the video phone. They both love you Jake, they really want to meet you. Especially my mother, she says how much you look like me.”

  
Jake was slowly warming up to the idea. But then he started the fingering the old, practically healed bruise on his cheek. The same one his grandfather had given him not quite a month ago. He looked scared again.

  
He shook his head. “No, I want to stay home. I don’t want to get hurt again.”

  
It hurt Simmons to know how badly his own father traumatized his son. Simmons and Grif never hit their kids for anything, getting hit by a belt from his grandfather really terrified Jake.

  
Simmons put his arms around him. “I understand honey, but my mother is nothing like my father, she would never hurt you. Do you think I would ever hurt you?”

  
He looked up at his Dad. “No, I know you wouldn’t.”

  
“Exactly, I take after my Mom. Neither one of us would hurt you. So won’t you reconsider? She really wants to see you.”

  
He thought about it. “Can I take my magic book and show her some of my tricks?”

  
Simmons smiled. “Sure, she’d love to see them. Feeling better now?”

  
Jake nodded. He got up to show Simmons his suitcase. “Does this look okay for the trip?”

  
Simmons couldn’t believe it, Jake’s bag was packed as neatly and carefully as Simmons’ own bag. “Good job Jakey, it looks perfect.”

  
Jake beamed at the compliment. Simmons looked over at Mira, who was still deep in conversation with her toys.

“How about you Miss, how did your packing go?” He almost hated to look at it.

  
She looked up. “I did good Daddy, look.” She got up and proudly showed off her packing. “See Daddy?”

  
Simmons groaned as he looked inside. He knew it was too good to be true. She had nothing packed but stuffed animals.

“I appreciate the effort honey, but you need more than toys for the next two weeks. You didn’t pack any clothes.”

  
“Yes I did.” She showed him in the bottom of the bag. She had two t-shirts and a pair of jeans. “See, there’s my clothes.”

  
Jake was laughing about her packing abilities. At least he felt better. He was packing his magic book and hat on top of his suitcase.

  
“You need more than two outfits, this trip is two weeks long.” He threw the toys out of the bag and started over.

  
Mira cried. “No Daddy, I need those. They’re be lonely without me.”

  
“You’re toys are fine by themselves, you know it’s all make believe. You can take one with you, that’s all.” The serious look on his face stopped her crying.

  
“Can I take two?”

  
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, and that’s all. Help me fold up these clothes, or you’ll have nothing to wear for two weeks.”

  
It seemed like an eternity, but he got the twins’ luggage packed and the kids settled into to bed. He was completely exhausted. He still had his two Dexters to worry about.

  
He checked in on Dex. He was all ready for bed, he was reading one of his books from his summer reading list. “Did you get packed alright?”

  
He looked up. “Yeah Dad, I’m all ready to go. I’m gonna take a few books with me so I can finish off my reading list while we’re gone.”

  
“Sure, that’s great. Lights out soon, we’re leaving early in the morning.”

  
“Okay, this is my last chapter.”

  
“Good night buddy.”

  
“Night Dad.” Dex seemed okay now. Simmons felt a lot better. He wished they could be as close as they used to be.

  
And now for the worst one; Grif. Simmons fully admitted that he spoiled him for years, doing all the work for him. No wonder Grif never volunteered for work.

  
He stopped in his tracks when he saw Grif’s suitcase packed and ready to go. He didn’t believe it. “There’s no way you seriously packed that bag.”

  
Grif pretended to look hurt. “Of course I did. You looked so stressed out, I wanted to be a good husband, so then shoot me.”

  
“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’m going to grab a shower, maybe we can hang out together when I’m done.

  
Grif was all sprawled out on the bed. “Definitely.”

  
Simmons hurried back…Grif was snoring away. He should have known better. He curled up beside him.

  
He really hoped they could make some time for themselves with this vacation.  
  



	4. Chapter 4

 

“Hurry up you guys, I’m not going to tell you again. We’re going to miss our flight.”

  
Simmons sighed as he glanced at his watch and nervously paced around the kitchen.

  
So far, only Jake managed to cooperate for him. He looked up at his Dad. “I’m all ready to go on time Daddy.”

  
Simmons smiled affectionately at him. “Thank you Jakey, I appreciate that.” He glanced at his watch again. “Do me a favor and see if your sister is ready. I’ll go check on Dex and your father.”

  
“Okay Daddy.” Jake went to their bedroom to check on Mira. She was debating on which two stuffed animals she wanted to take with her. “Mira, hurry up and choose. We’re gonna be leaving!”

  
Mira huffed. “But I can’t decide between the panda bear, giraffe, or my doll. Daddy said I can only take two. Which ones should I take?” She shoved them in Jake’s face.

  
He pushed them away. “I don’t care. Daddy said to hurry.” He grabbed her sleeve to pull her along. She had no choice but to follow him.

  
Simmons was ushering a very tired Dex and Grif into the kitchen. Dex couldn’t stop yawning and Grif felt like he could hardly keep his eyes open.

  
“Grif, I need your help to get the suitcases to the car if we’re going to make our flight on time.

  
Grif held back a yawn. “I don’t care, we can miss the flight. At least then I can go back to bed.” The dirty look he got from his husband shut him up fast. “Yes dear.” He would do the work, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be sarcastic about it.

  
Mira was tugging away at Simmons’ sleeve. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” His patience was running low, he looked annoyed at her. “Which two should I take? I can’t decide.”

  
“Mira, just pick two and let’s go already.” He rarely ever snapped at the kids.

  
Her big green eyes welled up with tears. She looked like he had slapped her. Simmons’ heart lurched, he didn’t want to take his bad mood out on her. Grif went to her and put his arm around her. This wasn’t worth all the stress.

  
“Honey, give me all three of them.”

He shoved them inside of her suitcase. “There, problem solved.” He shot a nasty look at Simmons. He felt even worse. But he knew this was why Mira never listened to him, Grif backed her up on every dispute. He didn’t have enough time to be mad about it though.

  
He looked at his watch again to see that they were seriously running late. “Fine, no more whining now. Let’s go.”

  
Grif loaded the luggage while Simmons made sure the kids were all buckled in. The last one he checked was Mira’s. She still had an injured look on her face.

  
He stopped and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to snap at you the way I did. I was just very stressed out.”

  
She gave him a big smile. At least she was an easy going kind of kid. “That’s Okay Daddy. I still love you.”

  
Simmons chuckled. “That’s good, I’m glad.”

  
With the way Grif always drive like a maniac, Simmons shouldn’t have worried about making the flight on time. They had a whole five minutes to spare.

  
“You see loser, I told you so. We’d make it here in plenty of time so you can take your freaking perfect family vacation.” Grif was still grumpy. If it were up to him, he’d still be in bed.

  
Dex and Mira were mesmerized by the shuttle. “Wow, this is so cool!” Dex wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up, so he felt right at home in the shuttle.

  
Poor Jake was wishing that he stayed at home. He turned very pale at the sound of the engines starting up. He closed his eyes tightly and tried not to think about where he was.

  
Simmons wanted to be better support for his son, but he wasn’t faring much better. He and heights have never and would never get along. He squeezed Jake’s hand while the shuttle was taking off.

  
Grif exchanged a look with Mira. They would need to help these two out. Grif reached over to take Simmons’ other hand while Mira hung onto Jake’s.

  
“Hey Jakey, did I ever tell you my favorite stuffed animals’ names?” She started rambling on to him about her toys. He wasn’t even listening, but he still gave her an appreciate smile. Her constant chattering would get him through this trip.

  
Simmons tightened his hold on Grif’s hand. He appreciated the fact that Grif knew how badly he hated traveling. The shuttle was in orbit, the long journey to Earth had began.

When they were allowed to take off the seat belts, the first thing Dex did was look out the window, watching as Planet Chorus got farther and farther away.

“Dad, you gotta check this out!” He was so amazed.

  
Grif wasn’t interested in space travel, and Simmons was in no condition to move yet, but Mira did come to look. She was as excited as Dex. “Whoa, Jake come and look.”

  
He shook. “Uh-Uh, no way. I’m sitting right here.”He was feeling better and didn’t want to press his luck. He sat beside his Dads, determined to stay here for the rest of the flight.

  
Soon Dex and Mira tired of their window. Dex had a deck of playing cards with him, he pulled them out of his duffel bag. “C’mon, lets play some Go Fish.”

He only just learned how to shuffle cards. He was really clumsy at it. After three failed attempts, he managed to deal out some cards.

  
Mira sat down beside him, waiting for the cards to be dealt. They both looked over at Jake. He was still to scared to move.

“Uhh, I think I’m good right here.”

  
“But Jakey, we want you to play.” Mira helped him out of his seat and led him over to their game. She kept a tight grip on his hand so he wouldn’t feel like he was going to fall. He survived the trip over, he felt like he could handle this. He looked so proud of himself.

  
Simmons was glad to see that. He worried about how his sensitive son would handle starting kindergarten in the fall. Especially with Mira around to help him, he was gradually finding his confidence. It helped Simmons to find the confidence to be able to let go of Grif’s hand.

  
But Grif wouldn’t let go. His other hand reached out to stoke back Simmons’ ginger curls. Simmons looked at him. “What’s wrong with you?” Usually he bitched about how clingy Simmons could be.

  
“You know, this is kinda nice. The kids are distracted, so it’s really just like you and me. We don’t do that often enough.”

  
Simmons thought about that. “Yeah, I know we should schedule out some extra time for us. That would be nice.”

  
He laid his head against Grif’s shoulder and watched the kids play together. It was nice to have family time with no other distractions around.

  
They had several hours before they would land in Portland. He could get used to this.  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

 

They were two hours from Portland. All three kids were asleep, and Simmons thought Grif was too. He went for his duffel bag and pulled out a bright red binder. He carefully took out his freshly re-printed itinerary and glanced over the schedule.

  
He tried to focus on fun activities in the area that the kids and his Mom could all do together. She only lived a few miles from the city of Portland, so they would be in the middle of all the action.

  
So far the best attractions for the kids would be the Oregon Zoo and the Children’s Museum. He thought the kids might be interested in the Forestry Center, but he worried about Mira’s asthma.

  
A lot of outdoor places worried him, which wasn’t fair to her since was an outdoorsy kind of kid like Dex was. Jake was the one who hated the outdoors.

  
He tried not to worry, he had her medication with him, and he trained her to always have her inhaler with her. She would be fine…but still, why risk it.

  
“What are you doing?” Grif’s sleepy voice broke through Simmons’ quiet reflections. He jumped and tried to hide the itinerary.

  
“No…nothing. What would I be doing?”

  
“Looks like you’re reading something there.”

  
“No of course not. I was thinking about our vacation.”

  
“Really?” Simmons nodded. “If so, then what’s those papers you hid behind your back?” Grif could tell when he was lying, he was terrible at it.

  
Simmons’ face was bright red. “Oh, these papers?” He finally showed the itinerary.

  
Grif glared at him. “I thought I destroyed that with the coffee grounds?”

  
“Well it’s a good thing I knew who I was dealing with. It’s saved on my computer, and I printed out three more copies.”

  
“Damn, I wanted to throw it out the window. Oh well, can I look at it for real?”

  
Simmons hesitated before shoving the papers at Grif. “Don’t ruin it.”

  
He frowned as he read through the pages. “You know that these are activities we can do with the kids back on Chorus, don’t you?”

  
Simmons huffed, Grif didn’t get it. “That’s not that point. They can do these activities in a new place, with both of us, and with their Grandmother. That’s the whole point of the vacation.”

  
Grif’s frown deepened. “Except for you guys, I ain’t much for family. I think I should have stayed home.”

  
“After your Mother went through the trouble of apologizing and everything? You’re sure you wouldn’t like to see her again?”

  
Grif blinked back his tears and held back a sniffle. It was hurting him so much to not want to see his Mother. But he stupid pride kept him from admitting that to his husband.

  
“No, not at all. I could handle never seeing her again. But, if you and the kids want to see her…hell, I’ll tag along with you.”

  
Simmons smiled to himself, that was exactly what he thought. No matter what Grif admitted to, he missed his Mother. “I only worry about Mira. Oregon isn’t going to be good for her asthma.”

  
Mira woke when she heard her name. She looked over at her Dads having a discussion, so she went to join them. She climbed up in Grif’s lap and laid her head on Simmons’ shoulder.

  
He stroked back her long, ginger curls, and she let him. Simmons wished she would always be this sweet and agreeable, but he knew it was only because she was tired. She was acting like the little girl he always wished she would be.

  
She looked up at him. “What about me not liking Oregon?”

  
“I’m only worried about your asthma acting up if you’re outside too much.”

  
She made a face. “I hate my asthma, you never let me do anything fun.”

  
“I just don’t want to see you get sick. I love you, I worry about you.” She still didn’t look happy.

  
Grif had to intervene for his daughter. “She’ll be fine, you know she will. Let her have some fun.”

  
Mira pleaded with her big green eyes.

“Alright, we’ll see how you feel.”

  
She looked happier. She laid her head back down and dozed off again. Simmons looked over at his sons, they were both sound asleep. Soon, even Grif was snoring again. Simmons cuddled closer with his husband and daughter. He passed out before he realized it.

 

 

Simmons woke with a start. He heard the message that they would be landing shortly. He elbowed Grif to wake him up.

He grumbled, but he did wake up. “We’re here Grif. Wake up Mira, while I get the boys.”  
The kids were all so sleepy. It was almost 9:00 pm, practically the kids bedtime. No wonder they were so sleepy. He got them all buckled in for the landing. He hoped his Mother came to meet them at the airport. He hadn’t seen her in so long, he couldn’t wait.

  
Simmons took each of the twins’ hands and helped them off the shuttle. A familiar looking form was waving at them from the gates. He felt like his heart would stop. He hadn’t seen his beloved mother since he was ten years old, and now she was here.

  
She looked so much older than he remembered her, but he still recognized her. Her hair was ginger red, but now it had some gray streaks to compliment it. Tears welled up in his eyes, he never thought he would see her again.

  
Mira tugged at Simmons’ arm, she wanted to see her Grandmother. “Grandma, Grandma!” Simmons had no choice but to let her go. She sprinted ahead and her grandmother caught her in her arms.

  
Dex moved faster, he really wanted to meet her too. She had an arm around each of them.

Jake looked up at Simmons. He thought it safe, but he still wasn’t sure.  
Simmons tried to let go of his hand. “Go on Jake, go see her, she won’t hurt you.” He wanted to, but he couldn’t move.

After the trauma he went through with his grandfather, Simmons understood.  
“Okay, let’s do this together.”

  
Simmons walked faster, practically pulling poor Jake along. As he got closer to his mother, the tears started flowing. “Mom, I missed you.”

  
She still had those soft green eyes and reassuring smile she had when he was a kid. She only had more lines and wrinkles than she did when she was younger. Other than that, she was the same as he remembered.

  
She temporarily let go of the grandkids to throw her arms around him. “Oh Dickie, I never thought I’d see you again.” She was crying too. She pulled out some Kleenex for the both of them.

  
She looked down at little Jake. Her whole face lit up as she smiled at him. “Oh my goodness, he looks so much like you did at that age. Come here sweetie.”

  
He tried to flinch and back away, but he warmed up fast to her. He knew he could trust her. He gave her a big hug.

“Grandma, I have so many neat magic tricks to show you.”

  
“You do? I can’t wait to see them!” She kept him close to her side. She looked at Grif, who was trying to be invisible. She gave him a big, welcoming smile. “And Dexter…Uh, you prefer Grif, right? I’m so glad to meet you.”

  
She gave him a big hug. He made a face, but she seemed so genuine, he couldn’t resist hugging her back. At least she was nothing like her ex-husband was.

  
“Let’s all go back to the house. I have presents for everybody there.”

  
Grif perked up at that. “Even me?”

  
She laughed. “Yes, even you.”

  
For not even wanting to come in this vacation, at least Oregon was looking promising to Grif.

  
Yeah, he could handle this for a week, Simmons deserved it. He loved his family, they were worth putting in a little effort for the perfect vacation.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

 

Meredith Simmons drove the Grif-Simmons family home in her tan SUV. There was plenty of room for the three kids.

  
“Thank goodness I opted the larger vehicle. I’ve been by myself for so long, I almost got a compact car.” She chuckled about it. “I must have known my family would come and visit.”

  
Simmons sat up front beside his Mom. She put her hand over his and smiled peacefully. She had waited so many years to see him again. She wanted to spend all the time with him that she could.

  
She drove outside the city to a quiet little suburbs, Cedar Hills, which was only a twenty minute drive to main attractions in Portland.

She pulled into the driveway of a beautiful, white two story house, with a fenced in yard. It looked like such a peaceful neighborhood, Simmons felt safe letting his kids play here. He felt good about this entire vacation.

  
She unlocked the oak front door. “Okay everybody, home sweet home.”

  
Dex and Mira raced each other to see who could get in the door first. Mira cheated by pushing him out of the way.

  
“Hey, no fair, you cheated.” His face was bright red with embarrassment. She stuck her tongue out at him.

  
Grif chuckled about it. He put his hand reassuringly on Dex’s shoulder. “Get used to it kiddo, girls will do that to you.”

  
Simmons glared at him. “Way to discipline your kids. Mira, you know better than that…”

He should have saved his breath. She was wandering away, checking out the house. He shook his head, why did he try?

  
He checked out the rooms, his Mom wasn’t doing too badly. The kitchen, dining room and living room were on the first level. All of the rooms looked inviting and the furniture looked kid friendly.

  
Until he noticed all the knickknacks she had decorated with in the living room. That could be a problem, especially with Mira. Usually the boys were pretty careful. He had to put the warning out.

  
“You guys be careful where you play.” He stopped and looked directly at Mira, though he didn’t come out and say her name. “Whoever breaks anything, gets grounded. I’m not kidding.”

  
Both boys nodded sincerely. Mira had a super angelic look on her face. “Of course not Daddy.” Meredith put her arm around her granddaughter, she believed the innocent act. Simmons knew better.

  
“Don’t worry, nothing here is expensive. If it gets broken, it gets broken. How about I make you kids some hot chocolate and pass out some gifts, before we all go to bed?”

  
Now the kids were paying attention. Simmons frowned. “Mom, that wasn’t the point of coming to see you. We want to spend time with you, not have you buy us stuff.”

  
She already started the water boiling. “Nonsense, I have a good job and saved my money. I want to spoil my family.” She went to the kitchen to fill mugs for the kids.

  
Grif wasn’t going to argue with that. “Hey, I say we get a good deal out of it.” Simmons shot him a look. “I deserve something for agreeing to come on this vacation.” He was as bad as the kids were.

  
“Here we go kiddies, drink up your hot chocolate.” She passed out matching mugs to each of the kids and to Grif and Simmons. Grif was pleasantly surprised.

  
“Now it’s present time.” Meredith stepped away to get them.

  
Mira set down her mug. She had a chocolate mustache on her face. “Yay, I can’t wait.” Her grandmother handed her a package wrapped in pink tissue paper. She hated the color pink, but she wouldn’t complain. She loved gifts.

  
Dex got a blue package and Jake got a green one. She went to the kitchen to hand Grif his own apple pie. “It’s homemade, I had a feeling you would like it.”

  
He gasped and grabbed ahold of it. “I call dibs on the whole thing.”

  
Simmons quickly took it off him. “No way, you’re not eating an entire pie this late at night. Save it for tomorrow, and you have to share it.”

  
“Aww, it’s mine.”

  
Meredith came to his defense. “Don’t worry, I have a whole other pie in there. We’ll all share that one, this one is yours.”

  
“You’re awesome, I wish you would adopt me.” Simmons elbowed him and concentrated on the kids.

  
Dex got a new SciFi book. “Cool, I don’t have this one yet. I can start reading it tonight.”

  
Jake got a professional looking magician’s wand. “Wow, I needed this!”

  
“I heard you had some magic tricks to show me. Now you have some help.”

  
Mira unwrapped a stuffed Dalmatian dog. She squealed with delight. “I always wanted a real dog, but Daddy won’t let me.”

  
Simmons felt he was being abused. “You’re allergic to dog hair, that’s why. I have to take care of the four of you as it is, that’s all I need is a dog underfoot.”

  
His mother was lost in thought. “You remember that yellow Lab, Sam, that you had when you were a kid? He broke our hearts when he was killed on the road.”

  
Simmons tried to block out the memory. That was one of the worst days of his life. Which was another reason he couldn’t handle having another dog. “Yes, I do. That’s why I don’t want another.” He was desperate to change the conversation.

  
His Mom understood. “How about we get started up to bed. I have a schedule of fun activities all planned out for us tomorrow. I’d like to start out bright and early.” She pulled out her own printed itinerary. Simmons smiled as he pulled his folder from his duffel bag.

  
Grif shook his head, he couldn’t believe it. Now he knew where Simmons got it from. He sighed, he was cursed, there were two of them. “How bright and early?”

  
“Oh, only 6 am. I was planning on 5am, but I’ll let you get an extra hour of sleep. Come on kids, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

  
Simmons followed along behind to help them carry their luggage. “Jake and Mira, this is your room, I figured you’d want to stay together. Dex you have the room across the hall. This way, you’ll all be close to each other. Dickie, you and Grif can have my room.”

  
“No way Mom, we can stay out in the living room. Grif can sleep anywhere.”

  
“I won’t take no for an answer. I don’t mind the couch, it’s very comfy.”

  
Soon the kids were settled in and practically asleep. Simmons went to check on Grif. He was already in the bed, snoring away. His Mom slipped a red package in his hands. “What’s this for?”

  
“It’s for you, open it.”

  
He opened a new iPad. “Mom, how could you, this is too much!”

  
She reached out to touch his shoulder. “No. I missed every important moment in your life. Your birthdays, graduation, military school, your wedding, my grandkids being born… I’m sorry and I’m trying to make up for it.”

  
His eyes filled with tears. “I really do understand, it’s okay. I know how Dad was. If you were able to come for me, you would have. It matters that we spend time together now.”

  
Her own eyes welled up with tears. “Despite your father raising you, you turned out to be a wonderful husband and father, I’m so proud of you. I’ll see you in the morning.” She was wiping her eyes with a tissue.

  
He was still sniffling as he laid down beside Grif. It woke him up, he turned to look at Simmons. “You okay there?” He put his arms around him and pulled him close.

  
Simmons let him, and he laid his head on Grif’s arm. “Yeah, I’m all great now.” They cuddled together as they both fell asleep.

  
Simmons could rest easy knowing that no matter how many times his insecurities got to him, he was on the right track with his life.  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

 

For the next two days, Meredith kept the Grif-Simmons family busy with all kinds of activities. They went to the zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, and the science center. Simmons and the kids loved the fast pace, Grif hated it.

  
He woke up on the third day, so exhausted he could hardly keep his eyes open. “Oh dear god, what torture does your mother have in store for me today?”

  
Simmons looked out the window. “I don’t know, it’s raining pretty hard out there. Mira’s allergies were acting up last night. I think she got too much pollen at the nature preserve. We may have to slow down some.”

  
“Oh thank you, I really love you now.” He curled back up under the blanket. “Wake me in an hour.”

  
All the kids moped around. Dex curled up in the couch to read his SciFi book, Jake settled at the dining room to study a disappearing quarter trick. Mira just stared out the window, wishing the rain would stop.

  
She turned around to whine to Simmons. “Daddy, I wanna go out and play!”

  
“Well, it’s raining right now, you have to wait.”

  
She huffed loudly, it fogged up the window. She entertained herself with writing words on the window. Simmons saw what she was up to, and stopped it.

  
“Mira! Don’t do that, you’re smudging up the glass. You’ll be cleaning it for your Grandma.”

  
She stopped and sat beside Dex. She couldn’t read very well yet, and was curious about his book.

“Whatcha reading?”

She kept staring over his shoulder. It made him squirm. He hid the book against the couch. “A book, now get out of my face.” His little sister could get on his nerves sometimes.

  
She looked insulted and went to talk to Jake. He was having problems getting his quarter to disappear. He couldn’t understand what was wrong.

“Hi Jakey.”

  
“Hi.” He mumbled, he wasn’t in the mood to talk, he was concentrating.

  
“Having trouble?” He nodded. “Let me be your assistant, I’ll fix it.” She reached across the table to grab his magic book, but she managed to spill the glass of milk he was drinking. It ran all over his precious magic book.

  
“Oh Mira, Daddy gave me this book, now it’s ruined!” Jake never lost his temper with Mira before. It really hurt her feelings.

  
Simmons heard the arguing. “Mira, leave Jake’s book alone.” He brought some paper towels. It cleaned up the milk. “There Jake, just let it dry some, it’ll be fine.”

  
His mother brought a large photo album to the kitchen table. “Dick, come look at these pictures with me.”

  
“All three of you behave, I mean it.” He sat down in the kitchen, still keeping a careful ear to what the kids were doing.

  
Dex was tired of reading. “Ha ha Mira, you keep getting yelled at.”

  
Her sore feelings couldn’t take any more hurt. Nobody liked her anymore. “Shut up Dex.” She hit him in the head with her stuffed dog. He reached over to take it away from her.

  
Jake could see the scuffle between his brother and sister. He may be mad at Mira, but she was his twin sister, he would always defend her. “Give it back to her Dex.” He made a grab for it.

  
All three kids had ahold of the toy, it somehow slipped out of their hands and went flying right into a vase filled with fresh carnations. The shattering sound of the vase brought Simmons running. When he saw the ruined flowers and water all over the floor, the kids knew they were in for it.

  
“Dexter Richard, Mira Kai, Jacob Christopher…what did you do?”

  
They all got their full names, it was worse than they thought. Mira was the bravest. “Dex tried to steal my dog.”

  
“But she hit me with it.”

  
Jake confessed. “I was trying to help Mira.”

  
Grif stumbled down the stairs. “What’s going on?”

  
Simmons glared at him. “I’m so glad you finally got up, maybe you could help me with watching your kids.”

  
Grif wanted to go back up the stairs. “Okay, Okay, sorry I asked.” He saw the broken vase. He couldn’t actually believe the kids would do this on purpose.

  
“You guys go to your room until I say you can come out, there’s too much broken glass here.” The three of them sulked upstairs. Grif followed behind to find out what happened.

  
Simmons started cleaning up the flowers. His Mom came out. “Now Dick, don’t worry about those. The flowers were half dead as it was. The kids are only having a bad day, you should go up and make sure they’re okay.”

  
She pushed him out of the way. “I got this.”

  
Grif was trying to calm down Dex. “Trust me kiddo, I know all about bratty little sisters. It’s hard, but you gotta be patient with her. Your Aunt Kai grew out of it, sorta, and so will Mira.”

  
Simmons went to talk to Jake. He didn’t see Mira in the room. “Where’d your sister go?” Jake sniffled back his tears and shrugged. “I dunno, she was mad at me and wouldn’t come in. I was only trying to help her.”

  
Simmons patted his shoulder. “I know, I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at this whole day. It was all an accident, no one is in trouble. As soon as the glass is cleaned up, you can come back down.”

  
He looked a little better. “Okay Daddy.”

  
Simmons and Grif was going into their bedroom at the same time. Grif wasn’t happy to see him. “Regardless of how someone thinks I don’t care about my kids, Dex is all cooled off now. So you’re welcome.”

  
“Jake’s better too, that leaves Mira…”

  
She was laying on the bed, crying into the pillow. Grif was beside her in a second. “What’s wrong honey?”

  
“Daddy doesn’t like me. He’s mean to me all the time.”

  
Grif had to hold back a chuckle. Simmons and Mira would forever be at odds with each other. “No honey, he loves you a lot, that’s why he’s mean to you all the time.”

  
Simmons was shocked. “Grif…”

  
Mira looked up at Grif, she had a little smile despite all the tears. Simmons went to sit beside her.

“I am not being mean to you. I love you more than you realize. I almost lost you more than once when you were a little baby, and I don’t want to go through it again.”

  
“Because of my stupid asthma?”

  
“Yes, pretty much, that’s why I’m over protective. I can’t make it through without my Mira.”

  
Her tears stopped, she gave him a big hug. “Sorry Daddy.” She looked out the window. “It stopped raining. Can we go to the park?”

  
Simmons groaned. “Is your breathing alright?” He couldn’t tell her no this time.

  
“Yep, I feel fine.”

  
“Grandma and I were going to do some scrapbooking, wouldn’t you like to help?”

  
“No, I wanna go play.” She looked so serious, he was stuck.

  
“I’ll take the kids to the park and you work on your scrapbooking.” It was rare for Grif to volunteer. “Mira, go tell your brothers to get ready.”

  
Simmons shot him a look. “What if something happens?”

  
“We’re only going across the street, and I’ll be with her the whole time. She’s fine.” He looked so serious that Simmons reluctantly gave in.

  
“Alright, go ahead.”

  
Twenty minutes later, he and his mother were at the dining room table, laughing over what few happy memories Simmons remembered as a kid. His phone rang, it was Grif.

  
“What the hell Grif, can’t you even babysit?”

  
“Shut up! Mira had an asthma attack. I tried everything, I can’t get it to clear up. Help me!” His voice was so scared.

  
Simmons’ heart went cold. “I’ll be right there.”

  
He prayed he would make it in time.  


 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

Simmons never ran so fast in his life, he had to get to his little girl. She was laying in the middle of the playground, laying in Grif’s arms as he tried to calm her down.

  
He looked up at Simmons with tears streaming down his face. He had her inhaler in his hands, but it wasn’t helping her. She was panicking to try to take a breath, she was turning blue. Simmons had gone through this before, the main trick is to get her to calm down.

  
He put his hands on her cheeks. “Mira, look at me honey, calm down.” He helped her with her inhaler. “Breathe in, keep calm baby, you’re going to fine, you need to breathe for me.”

  
She focused on her Dad’s face. Her panicked breathing got a little calmer. She was able to take in deep breaths. The color came back to her cheeks. Simmons gave a sigh of relief and held her close.

  
“Sorry Daddy.” She could hardly get the words out. She buried her face in his chest and tried to cry.

  
“No no, it’s okay baby, don’t cry. Let’s get you back to the house. I need to see if you need a doctor.”

  
“No doctors, I only like Dr. Grey. I wanna go home.”

  
Grif was still shaking and trying to wipe the tears from his cheeks. Jake was clinging to his hand. He was trembling and shaking. He’d seen his twin go through this, but it always scared him. Even Dex was looking worried. He had his differences with Mira, but he still loved her.

  
Simmons gently carried her home. His Mom took one look at her and knew what to do.

“Put her to bed, I’ll fix up the room with a humidifier, I’ll get her breathing calmed down before you know it.”

  
“Maybe she needs a doctor.”

  
“Nonsense, I’m a nurse’s aide, and asthma is common, I deal with it everyday. She needs some quality time with her grandmother to feel better, I guarantee it.”

  
Simmons had a hard time letting go of her hand. “But I prefer staying with her.”

  
“You’re welcome to join us.” She set a stack of picture books by Mira’s bedside. “Honey, I’m going to read to you and tell you embarrassing stories about your Dad until you’re feeling better. Is that okay?”

  
Mira weakly giggled. “Yeah, I wanna hear all about Daddy.” She squeezed his hand.

  
His face burned with embarrassment. He knew he would regret it, but he sat beside her and stroked her hair. There was no way he could leave her, no matter how badly his Mother humiliated him.

  
Jake came in the room. “I need to be with Mira.”

  
Meredith gave him a welcoming smile. “Come join us for story time.”

  
He climbed in bed beside Mira. She laid her head on his shoulder. Dex followed and sat at the foot of the bed. “Glad you’re feeling better, pest.” He have her a teasing grin.

  
Grif peeked in the door. “Can I join the party? I brought a friend for Mira.” He brought her stuffed Dalmatian.

  
“Yay, I was missing Spot. Thank you Daddy.”

  
Grif leaned down to give her a kiss. “I’m glad you’re feeling better squirt. You scared me.”

  
Mira looked around at her family. “I thought all of you hated me, everyone was mean to me.”

  
Simmons felt bad. “We were all having a bad day today. It certainly wasn’t because we hate you.”

  
Grif sat on the bed beside Simmons. “Yeah, now you know how much we love ya, even if we don’t always remember to say it.”

  
He put his arm around Simmons, and leaned up against him. Poor Simmons braced himself for what total humiliation his Mother had planned for him.

 

 

  
The next morning they had to pack to make the five hour trip to Hawaii. Simmons didn’t want to say goodbye. He had to fight back his tears.

  
“Mom, you really need to come and visit Chorus. It’s a lot like Earth, you’d love it there.”

  
“I’d love to be closer to you guys, but it’s so hard to get away from work.”

  
He had a brainstorm idea. “Chorus has Dr. Grey, she’s the best doctor in the galaxy. She’s always looking for more help. You’d be guaranteed a job. You can rent a nice home there and be closer to us.”

  
She thought a moment. “That’s not a bad idea. If you get me the information, I’ll call and talk to her.”

  
He pulled out his wallet. “Here, this appointment card has her number on it . Tell her you’re my mother and she’ll find you a spot at the hospital.”

  
She actually cried. “Alright then, you’ll be seeing me sooner than you think.”

 

 

  
The Grif-Simmons’ found themselves back on the shuttle, dreading the long flight to Hawaii. Jake still wasn’t so sure of flying.

Mira was feeling better, but not quite at her usual spunk. Simmons was kind of missing it. She sat beside Jake and held his hand during the takeoff.

  
Jake was slowly but surely getting better at air travel. He kept looking st Simmons, wanting to ask him something, but he hesitated. Mira left Jake to watch out the window. He wasn’t that brave yet, so he stayed next to his Dad.

  
Simmons leaned over to him. “What’s wrong Jakey?”

  
“I know I worried about meeting my first Grandma, and she was really nice. But what about the other one?”

  
“Don’t worry, I’ve already met her. She’s really nice. She’s very outgoing, a lot like your Aunt Kai.”

  
He cringed at the thought of Leilani and Kaikaina Grif. They were both very sweet, but they both had terrible crushes on him. He still didn’t like when women paid him direct attention, especially when it was his mother and sister in law. It was too weird.

  
“Oh, Aunt Kai is really cool, I like her.”

  
“Her Mom is just like she is.”

  
Jake relaxed and actually smiled. “Meeting her wont be so bad then, will it?” He needed his Dad’s approval.

  
Simmons ruffled his hair. “Of course it won’t buddy. Sit back and enjoy the trip.”

  
Jake chatted to him about everything for the rest of the trip. Simmons really was proud of how his timid son was trying to face his fears and learning how to deal with them. Jake would be alright, he could stop worrying about him so much.

  
Simmons was the one worried about this trip. Kai behaved herself the last time they saw each other, but she was still technically Simmons’ ex. At least by one date that ended in total failure, but it still counted to Simmons.

  
The fact that Kai was after him, made Grif step up to confess that he was the one who loved Simmons. The two had been a couple ever since. She actually helped bring them together. The fact that they were family now, made it more awkward.

  
Simmons hoped he was worried over nothing. Kai had such a short train of thought, she couldn’t remember what she did yesterday, let alone who she dated once almost ten years ago.

  
The announcement was made that they were over Honolulu. Simmons’ stress rate went up. He felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked over and saw Grif’s warm brown eyes.

  
“Let’s get this over with so we can go home.” He was dreading it too.

  
Like always, a Grif had his back. Together, they could get through anything.

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

“Dexter, Richard! I missed you guys!”

The whirling roar of the shuttle’s engines did nothing to quiet down Leilani Grif’s mouth. Simmons could hear her as soon as they stepped off the ramp.

  
He naturally cringed. Grif grimaced in agony. His Mother and Sister’s voices usually gave him migraines. He swore he was allergic to them.

  
“Dexie and Dickie, my two favorite guys! I waited forever for you to come back.”

  
Kai was jumping up and down like a cheerleader. She pretty much wore a bikini top for a shirt and her jean shorts were barely there. Grif blushed, why did she always have to make a spectacle of herself all the time?

  
The kids made their way down the ramp. She squealed with joy. “My sweeties! Aunt Kai missed you guys so much!”

  
The three kids went running to her, they loved their wacko Aunt. She managed to catch them all into a bear hug, their combined weight knocked her to the ground. She laughed as they helped her up. Grif groaned, he wished she would act her age.

  
Leilani grabbed ahold of Simmons and gave him a rib shattering hug. He could barely breathe. “Hello there handsome.”

She gave him a big kiss in the cheek. Her bright red lipstick smeared over his face.  
Grif felt bad for him and tried to help, but he got caught himself.

“You get over here too Dexter.” There was no getting away from her. Grif’s cheek matched Simmons’. Mira giggled loudly at them.

  
Leilani turned her attention to the kids. “There’s my honeys!” She held out her arms. Dex flinched a little, Jake looked terrified, but Mira went running right to her.

  
She threw her arms around her grandmother. “I knew you would be cool like Aunt Kai!”

  
For once, Mira didn’t feel out of place, she was with the family where she belonged. Simmons always hated to admit it, but Mira reminded him so much of Kai. It worried him sometimes.

  
“Well thank you sweetie, you’re pretty cool yourself.” She chuckled. Dex slowly came over. He didn’t want to end up wearing lipstick like his Dads.

  
Leilani gasped when she saw him up close. “My, you do look like your Dad when he was your age.” She held out her arm to hug him. He willingly took it.

  
Only poor Jake was left. He was standing alone, looking totally lost without his brother and sister. He wanted to go see his grandmother, but he couldn’t move. Kai gave up picking on her brother to help out her nephew.

  
She knelt down in front of him. “Hey Jakey, you wanna meet your Grandma?”  
He nodded his head, but he still looked terrified. Kai understood. “You’re not scared of me, are you?” He shook his head. “Then there’s no reason to be scared of her either, c’mon.” She held out her hand.

  
He took it with a grateful smile. He felt a lot braver with his Aunt around. She may act like a big kid, but she would do anything for her niece and nephews.

  
Leilani was gentle with him. She gave him a big smile. “There’s my little Jakey. You look so much like your Daddy, you’re so adorable!” She gently hugged him.

  
Jake blushed at the compliment as he hugged her back. There was no reason to be afraid of her anymore. He was so relieved.

  
“Well, since we finally got the whole Grif family together, what do we do first?” Leilani Grif may not have a printed schedule, but she was still very organized. She was just easily distracted.

  
Dex spoke up first. “I want to go to the beach.”

  
Mira wasn’t picky. “I’m bored from the airplane, I wanna play.”

  
Jake looked worried. “I just want to practice some of my magic tricks.”

  
Grif rolled his eyes. “I only want a nap.”

  
Simmons tried to be the voice of reason. “No, we have to unpack and get settled in before we do anything.”

  
Leilani listened to the suggestions and nodded her head. “Okay, you guys are my guests, how about if we get to do everything.”

  
Simmons had to step in to keep this vacation on track. “Yes, we can do everything. We have a few days here in Hawaii, we have plenty of time. First we unpack, then see how late it is.”

  
The kids and Kai grumbled about it, but they did listen. Leilani was perfectly happy just being around her family.

“Alrightee, I got the rooms all set up for you guys. Unpacking shouldn’t take long.”

 

 

“Dexter and Dick, you guys get the spare bedroom you had before.” Leilani turned to the kids. “Dex and Jake can bunk together in the second room. Mira, you can share the downstairs with Kai. I think this sleeping arrangement will work.”

  
Mira looked excited to stay with her Aunt, but Jake wasn’t too happy. He and Mira still did everything together. Especially with all these changes going on, he needed her. At least his other grandmother understood how important it was.

  
“I usually stay with Mira.”

  
Simmons didn’t seem very concerned. “A few days without her won’t hurt you any Jakey. You’ll still have Dex with you.”

  
Grif gave an evil grin. “Yeah, you’ll probably have more fun without her.”

  
Mira laughed and pretended to hit him. He tickled her so she laughed even more. Jake felt worse, everybody was going to have fun here in Hawaii except him.

  
Leilani looked down at him, gently ruffled his hair and took his hand. “I’m sorry about that honey, but come see how nice your room is though. You’ll have a lot of fun with your big brother.”

  
Jake shrugged as he looked around the room. Dex tried to help him. “Come on Jake, I’ll let you pick which side of the bed you want, and which dresser you want for your clothes.”

  
He even helped Jake unpack his bag and fold his clothes away carefully and neatly. Dex’s own dresser was stuffed full. He didn’t care what it looked like.

  
He went to find his Dads. “Aunt Kai said she could teach me how to surf, and I wanna learn. So can I?” He was mostly asking Simmons, he was the Dad most likely to say no. “Please Dad, I’ll be careful.”

  
Simmons wanted so badly to say no. He looked at Grif, he didn’t seem worried. “How well can Kai even surf?”

  
“I dunno, I guess pretty well. She’s always been very athletic and she was always hanging around the beach. I don’t see any reason he shouldn’t learn to surf. He’ll be safer around the water.”

  
Dex was pleading with his eyes. Simmons hesitated. “Yes, I suppose so. But not until tomorrow, it’s getting late as it is.”

  
Dex looked relieved. “Thanks Dad.” Simmons hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

  
The Grif-Simmons’ family all met down in the living room. Leilani came in to see them. “I got the barbecue all fired up, we’ll have some hotdogs for dinner followed by s’mores for desert. Now won’t that be fun?”

  
“Yay, Daddy never lets us have s’mores at home.” Mira was all happy.

  
“Yeah, he always says they’re too messy.” Dex also had to embarrass Simmons.

  
“Then it’s a good thing you came to stay with me. This is a vacation, and your Grandma says you’re allowed.”

  
Simmons cringed. The kids would be all sticky from the marshmallows and way too hyper from all the sugar. Yet Leilani was right, this was a special occasion.

  
“Alright guys, but just one s’more for each.” Simmons was trying to be agreeable.

  
“No way Dad, I want at least two.” Dex was growing up to be too much like Grif.

  
“If I only want to roast a marshmallow, is that okay?” Jake didn’t care for junk food.

  
Grif was way too excited. “I’ll beat you all, I’ll have my own package of marshmallows.”

  
Simmons groaned, this was going to be a long couple of days in Hawaii.  
  



	10. Chapter 10

 

Bedtime came too soon for poor Jake. He was used to having Mira in the same room, he didn’t want to bunk with Dex. Now he was here in Hawaii, in a strange room…he wasn’t happy with the sleeping arrangements.

  
“Jake, just try to go to sleep. It’s okay to be separated from your twin once in a while.” Simmons was so tired of trying to convince him.

  
Dex was tired of it too. “You’ve bunked with me quite a few times. It never bothered you before.”

  
Jake peeked out from under the covers where he was hiding. “But this is a new room in a strange place. I can’t do it.” He back under.

  
Simmons pulled the blanket back. “Yes you can Jakey, you’re braver than think. For me, please give it a shot.”

  
That made Jake think. His Dad said he was brave, he could act braver until he felt it. “Okay Daddy, I can do this.”

  
“That’s my boy.” He kissed his cheek and tucked him in. “Good night guys.”

  
By the time Simmons got to his bedroom, he was already exhausted. Sometimes, his kids were too much for him to handle. Grif was already asleep.

Simmons stretched out beside him.  
All of sudden, loud hiphop music blared from downstairs. Simmons and Grif both jumped awake.

  
“What the hell is Kai doing down there?” Grif was still groggy from sleep.

  
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling Mira is responsible for the noise too. Both of them are going to get it.”

  
He made it to the basement first. Kai and Mira were both dancing wildly to the loud dance music. He had to scream to be heard over the music. “Kaikaina, Mira! What are you doing?”

  
Kai reached over to turn the radio down, but not by much. “Sorry babe, can’t talk, we’re in a dance-off. Mira challenged me, I can’t quit now.”

  
Mira was laughing. “Yeah Daddy, I’m winning.”

  
Grif made it down the stairs, he went straight to the radio and roughly pulled the cord from the wall. It was so quiet. Kai and Mira both stopped dancing and looked super guilty.

  
Grif glared at his little Sister. “What’s wrong with you, do you know how late it is?”

  
Simmons got over his shock. “Mira, you had a big asthma attack last night, why in the world are you dancing around like a maniac?”

  
“Cause it’s fun, and I was beating Aunt Kai.” Her green eyes filled with tears. Here was another activity she loved that she couldn’t do because of her breathing. “I just wanted to have some fun.” Her voice broke as the tears streamed down her face.

  
Simmons felt bad as he softened down his voice. “I know honey, I really do want you to have fun, but you should wait until you’re feeling better.”

  
“I feel fine Daddy, honest.”

  
“Yeah, didn’t you see some of her moves, that kid has talent.” Kai looked so proud of Mira as she gave her a high five.

  
“No Kai, this isn’t a proud moment. How could you put your own niece in danger like this?”

  
“She’s not in any danger. I’m right here with her. The slightest wheeze, sniffle, or cough, and we’d be done. God, cut the bossy attitude and let the kid live a little.”

  
Simmons glared softly at her, but he knew she was right. He sighed, he may as well give up. “It’s getting late, finish up whatever dance-off you call that and you both get to bed. Keep the music low, we’re all trying to sleep.”

  
Kai gave him a fake salute. “Yes sir, Sarge Junior.”

  
Mira giggled at the comment. “Thank you Daddy. I’ll go to bed right after this.”

  
“You had better, good night.”

  
Grif grumbled as he went upstairs. “Mira’s a five year old and Kai has the mentality of a five year old. They make a great pair.”

 

  
  
Grif was still upset as he and Simmons settled back into bed. “I’ll never fall asleep now.”

  
“Oh yeah right.” Simmons cuddled up beside him. Two minutes later, he was snoring. “That’s what I thought.” After a while Simmons dozed off.

  
He was startled awake by something tugging at his pajama sleeve. “What in the world?” In the dark of the room, he made out the small form of Jake.

  
He was whispering. “Daddy Daddy, are you awake?”

  
“I am now, what’s wrong Jakey?”

  
“I miss Mira, I can’t sleep with Dex.”

  
“Why not? You’ve done it before.”

  
Tears welled up in his soft green eyes. “He keeps snoring and stealing the blankets. He almost pushed me out of bed. I can’t sleep in there, I tried.” The tears streamed down his face.

  
Simmons sighed, at this rate, he was never getting any sleep. “Would you be able to sleep in here with us?”

  
Jake instantly stopped crying, that’s what he hoped his Dad would say. “Yeah.”

  
“Alright hop in, and don’t wake your Dad.” Simmons figured it was easier to just give in.

  
Jake snuggled in the middle of the bed. Simmons put his arm around him and made sure he had enough of the covers. “Are you feeling better now?”

  
“Yes, thank you Daddy.” Jake curled up next to him and was asleep in no time.

Simmons waited a few minutes and decided there were no more problems, before he allowed himself to go to sleep for a third time. This was the night that would never end.

 

 

Early the next morning, Grif wasn’t in a much better mood. Jake had gone back to Dex’s room to get dressed, and Grif needed to vent out his anxieties to his husband.

  
“Why was Jake staying with us?”

  
“It was the middle of the night, he came in crying that he couldn’t sleep, so I let him stay in here. What’s the big deal?”

  
“He woke me up at four in the morning from all his tossing and turning. I got whacked right in the head. He’s staying where he belongs tonight.”

  
Simmons rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll see how it goes. You can afford to miss out on a little sleep. This is a vacation, we’re supposed to have fun.”

  
Grif huffed. “Some fun.” He cheered up some at breakfast. His Mom’s famous homemade pancakes and fresh maple syrup did the trick.

  
“Dexter, I thought after breakfast, we could go through some old family photos together.” His Mom was in a smiley mood.

  
Grif made a face. “I really don’t want to.” Simmons kicked him from under the table, it gave Grif an idea. “Well, only if my loving husband joins me.” He shot an evil smirk at Simmons. He got kicked again, harder this time. It was worth it though.

  
Kai got excited. “Yeeeahh, while you two are busy, this gives me a chance to babysit.”

  
Simmons looked horrified. “No way…”  
The kids gave him sad looks. Kai gave him a sad, pleading look. This wouldn’t end well. “Are you sure you can handle all three of them?”

  
She smiled as she tried to wrap her arms the all the kids at the same time. “Of course I can, I’m the bestest Aunt in all the world.”

  
Simmons cringed, he couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this. “Alright, if you’re sure.”

  
The kids all cheered. Kai’s mouth didn’t help any. “Allriiight, it’s party time kids.”

  
He really hoped he would see would see his kids again…

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

 

Simmons had to make sure Kai was aware of the rules. “Now Kai, Dex is a good swimmer, but don’t let him go too far from the shore. I don’t want the twins swimming until I’m there to supervise, they’re still learning to swim. Make sure they wear life vests and put on sun screen.”

  
Simmons wondered why he was bothering telling her all these rules. She was sprawled out on the recliner, more worried about blowing a bubble with her bubblegum than listening to his rules. He wished he had a better babysitter.

  
“Yeah yeah, always follow the rules, the kids will safe, blah blah. I’m not stupid, I won’t let them get hurt. They can follow the strict rules on your time. This is Aunt Kai time, you know the actual fun time?”

  
Grif knew how to get her to listen. He pretended to put her in a headlock. She screamed and laughed at the same time. “I’ll make it easy for you little sis, I like my kids, I’d like to have them back in one piece. Got it?”

  
She laughed as she tried to break away from him. “Yeah, I got it, I surrender. Let go of me.” Grif let go and Kai fooled around with fixing her long, black curls. “God, you’re still so mean to me.”

  
Grif chuckled as he left the room. “Yep, I’m your big brother, that’s my job.”

  
The kids came out with their bathing suits on. Dex had a red surfboard in his hand and Mira had a purple plastic bucket and shovel, she planned on making a sandcastle. Jake was empty handed. He hated the ocean and planned to stay as far away from it as possible.

  
Kai got up from her seat and dragged out her own surfboard. She looked at Jake. “Don’t you have anything to play with at the beach today sweetie?”

  
“Not really, I don’t like the ocean or the beach.”

  
Mira had his back. “Don’t worry, we can make sandcastles together, that’ll be fun.”

  
Jake smiled a little. “Okay, I’ll try to have fun at the beach.”

  
“That’s the spirit!” Kai took his hand and led the kids on the short walk to the beach. “Well, here it is. It’s not usually busy here, so we got this whole section all to ourselves.”

  
“C’mon, I wanna learn to surf.”

  
“Well Dex, I kinda promised your Dad to not let you go out too far. I’ll teach you the beginner course in shallow water.”

  
He looked disappointed, but didn’t question it. “Yeah, Dad’s like that. I guess it’s better than nothing.”

  
She turned to the twins. “Will you guys be okay up here by yourselves while I help your brother?”

  
Jake nodded, he never got into trouble. Mira had a super innocent smile on her face. “Of course Aunt Kai, we’ll be fine.”

  
“Your Dad said not to go swimming, so stay on the beach. But watch out for jellyfish. I stepped on a dead one once when I was a kid. It hurt like heck, my whole leg swelled up.” She waded into the water with Dex.

  
Jake looked more nervous. “Great, now I have another reason to hate the beach.”

  
Mira wasn’t listening, she was playing in the surf as it washed up on the beach. “C’mon Jake, this is fun.”

  
“Dad said not to play in the water.”

  
“He said no swimming, and I’m not.”

  
“Eww, you have no idea what’s in that water. There could be a jellyfish in there, you heard what Aunt Kai said.”

  
She looked twice at the water. “What does a jellyfish look like?”

  
“I dunno, and I don’t want to find out. Let’s play on the beach where it’s safe.”

  
She shrugged and grabbed her pail and handed Jake the shovel. “You scoop the sand up and I’ll start building. We’ll make the bestest sandcastle ever.”

  
The two played happily in the sun for a while. Jake happened to notice how red Mira’s fair skin was getting. “Mira, how much sunscreen did you put on?”

  
She gave him a blank look. She never put on any. “I don’t know, I guess enough, why?”

  
“Your face looks awfully red. You should put more on. Daddy always makes us wear some when we’re outside.” He tried to hand her the bottle.

  
She made a face. “You sound just like he does.” Jake wouldn’t give up. Mira huffed and snatched the bottle from him. She squirted some on her hands and patted some on her face. “There, you happy?”

  
He shook his head. “No, you didn’t use enough.” He gave up lecturing her and scooped up some more sand.

  
A half hour later, Simmons walked down to check in the kids. The first thing he noticed was how sunburnt Mira was. She didn’t want an ‘I told you so’ from Jake, so she didn’t mention how bad she was hurting already.

  
“Mira, what happened to you? Didn’t you use the sunscreen I sent with Jake?”

  
She shook her head. Her arms and back were burning too badly for her to talk. Her eyes filled with tears that she was too afraid to cry because her face hurt.

  
“You’re really hurt there, aren’t you?”  
She nodded, she couldn’t keep the tears from streaming down her face. She cried out in pain.

  
Jake felt so bad for his sister. “I tried to tell you so.” He said it gently. It only made Mira cry harder.

  
“Kai, I’m taking Mira up to the house, she’s really sunburnt. Is Dex doing alright?”

  
“Yeah, he’s like a total pro. Can I take him out further?”

  
“Okay, but be careful. And keep an eye on Jake.” He turned to Mira. “Come on honey, I’ll get you fixed up.”

  
Jake didn’t want to be alone. “Should I come too? I can help.”

  
“That’s okay buddy, stay down here and play. You can cheer your brother on.”

  
Jake watched Dex learning how to balance on the surfboard. He kept falling over. After a few failed attempts, he got the hang of it. Jake cheered. “Way to go Dex!”

  
Dex looked at him and fell off the board again. He laughed, tried it again and stayed on longer without crashing. It looked like it was fun. Jake considered not being afraid of the ocean so he could learn to surf too.

  
At least he got over his fear of the beach. He stopped paying attention to where he stepped, he thought he was safe. When his toes stepped on something squishy, panic set in fast. He still didn’t know what a jellyfish was, but he had the feeling he just found one.

  
As the burning pain shot through his foot, he knew for sure. He screamed so loud, Simmons could faintly hear him from the house.

He left Mira in Grif’s care and went running. His heart nearly stopped when he found Jake on the ground, screaming uncontrollably.

  
“Jakey, I’m coming honey!” He scooped his son up in his arms. His right foot was already swollen. “I’m going to get you help, don’t worry, you’ll be okay.”

  
Jake went limp in his arms, Simmons prayed he was in time.

 


	12. Chapter 12

 

Simmons cradled his crying son close to him. He felt like this was all his fault. Jake wanted to leave with him and Mira, why didn’t he let him?

  
“I’m sorry Daddy, I tried to be careful, but I got too close to the water.”

  
“Hey, it’s okay Jakey. I’m not mad at you, I’m mad at me. I should’ve let you go with Mira.”

  
Kai and Dex had ran to Jake’s side when he screamed. Dex was so scared for his little brother. “What’s happened to him? I don’t see anything he could’ve gotten hurt on.”

  
Simmons looked at his foot, trying to find some kind of wound. It was swollen already, he had a hard time finding it. Jake was writhing in pain, Simmons didn’t want to hurt him more.

  
“Jake, do you know what you stepped on?”

  
He nodded, he knew it was a jellyfish. Just the mention of the word scared him, he couldn’t get the words out. It only made him cry harder.

  
Kai took a closer look at the water splashing up on the beach. She looked seriously at Simmons, he never saw Kai look so grownup before.

  
“Yep, it’s exactly what I thought. It wasn’t your fault that Jake got hurt babe, there’s a dead jellyfish over here. He must of stepped on it. Those damn things are awfully nasty.”

  
Jake nodded in misery, Simmons didn’t know how to help him. “So what do I do, take him to the emergency room? How poisonous are these things anyway?”

  
“Oh, they’re not deadly or nothing, it’s like a bad bee sting. Mom and Grif helped patched me up from an attack when I was a kid.” She leaned down to hold Jake’s hand. “Jakey, you will be just fine, I promise you kiddo.” She gave his hand a squeeze.

  
Jake looked a little better with hearing that, but not much. His shock was wearing off, he was really feeling the stinging pain now. As gently as he could, Simmons picked him up. He cried out in pain, he couldn’t help it. Simmons kissed his cheek to help him feel better.

  
“Don’t worry buddy, I’ll get you up to the house, your Grandma knows what to do. You’ll be feeling better in no time. Now you and Mira get to be invalids together.”

He hoped his weak attempt at humor would help take Jake’s mind off the pain. It broke his heart to see any of kids hurt.

  
Dex looked super worried as he followed behind. He hung his head and looked at the ground as he walked. Kai came to walk beside him. She playfully punched his arm.

  
“Jake will be fine ya know. You have the two best best Dads on the planet, he’ll feel better in no time.”

  
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. I just feel like it’s all my fault.”

  
“Why’s it your fault?”

  
“Cause I had to learn to surf, that’s why we were all on the beach. Jake pretty much hates the outdoors in general. He was only there because of me, and now he’s hurt, and Mira has sunburn…I’m a terrible brother.”

  
She put her arm around him. “Nah, I think you’re a great big bro, your Dad was too. Even if he is too grumpy to admit it. It’s summer vacation…this is our curse. The twins would have ended up on that beach and gotten hurt one way or another. It has nothing to do with you.”

  
He looked up at her. “You really think so?”

  
“I totally know so. Race you to the house.” She took off before Dex had a chance to move.

  
“Hey, no fair, I wasn’t ready!”

  
Kai easily won and Dex spent the next hour grumbling about it.

 

  
Simmons carried Jake to his and Grif’s bedroom. “Grif, help me. Jake got hurt.”

  
He looked up from rubbing aloe vera cream on Mira’s face. “Oh no, not the other one.” He took one look at his foot and knew it was serious. “Oh god, don’t tell me that was from a jellyfish.”

  
Simmons nodded as he set Jake down. He propped his foot up with a pillow. “I’ll go get Mom, she was an expert on it, thanks to Kai.” He groaned as he left the room.

  
Even though Mira was close to being in tears over her own pain, one look at Jake, and she started crying her eyes out. Jake felt bad, he never wanted to hurt his sister.

  
“Don’t cry Mira, now we get to be invalids together. Right Daddy?” He gave Simmons a small smile. Jake appreciated his attempt.

  
Simmons patted his arm. “That’s right guys. I’ll get you some painkillers and we’ll wait for your Grandma.”

  
Mira leaned her head against Jake’s shoulder. “Daddy, would you read us a story later?”

  
“Sure, after Jake’s sting gets treated. The three of us can spend some time together.”

  
Leilani’s mouth could be heard all the way up the stairs. “Oh no, not my poor little sweeties, both of them can’t be hurt!”

  
Jake cringed as she flounced in the room. Mira couldn’t help laughing. She loved her Grandma Grif.

  
Leilani had a small bowl in her hand. “Here Jakey, I made some baking soda mix for your foot. This will help both the pain and swelling. You’ll notice a big difference in just a few minutes. Let me put this on your foot sweetie pie.”

  
He flinched and cried out, but she was right. After only a few minutes, the burn felt a lot better. She gave both the twins plenty of kisses on their cheeks. “Kisses are an added bonus, they’re guaranteed to make you feel better, because Grandma loves you so much.”

  
Grif stood back and rolled his eyes, but he was amazed how well his Mom got along with the kids. It was better than she was with him. Maybe people can change for the better. He wished he could trust her, just once.

  
Dex and Kai were peeking around the corner of the door. “Are the kiddos all better?” Kai was worse than one of the kids.

  
“Not yet, but they’re getting there. How about if you, Grif and Leilani take Dex out sightseeing. I’ll stay here with the twins. I promised them a little story time together. I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

  
Grif frowned. “You’re sure?”

  
“Definitely, go have fun. You can have a little extra bonding time with Dex. He’d like that.”

  
Simmons grabbed the big pile of picture books that Leilani saved from when Grif and Kai were kids. He pulled the twins up close to him and read from every single one.

  
Afterwards, Mira gave him a big smile. “Wow, you really wanted to spend time with me? You usually yell at me.”

  
“Of course I want to spend time with you. You’re my favorite daughter, after all.” She giggled at that comment.

  
Jake was laughing and almost forgot about his foot. “What about me Daddy?”

  
“That’s easy, you’re my favorite younger son.” He looked happy with that answer.

  
Mira thought for a second. “This is fun. Ya know Daddy, you’re a lot cooler when you’re not so busy working or bein’ bossy.”

  
“Thanks Mira.” She sounded so much like Grif, he would take it as a compliment. “I like being able to spend extra time with you guys too.”

  
Jake looked up. “Can we do this again tomorrow?”

  
“Sure we can, we’re still on vacation.”  
Mira shoved a few books towards him. “Here, read these again Daddy. They’re my favorites.”

  
She couldn’t even read well enough to know what books she picked out. Jake shared a grin with Simmons, neither one wanted to tell her that.

  
He cuddled his kids a little closer, and continued on with story time.

  



	13. Chapter 13

 

“Hey gang, never fear, I’m home.” Grif was all excited, but the bedroom was quiet.

  
He cut short his sightseeing trip early to see Simmons and the twins. He and Kai had taken Dex to a small carnival in downtown Honolulu.

  
He tried to have fun, but he was missing the rest of his family. He went out of his way to win the twins two stuffed teddy bears. He got some cotton candy and hurried home to see them.

  
Simmons was sprawled out in the middle of the bed, fast asleep, with a twin laying in each arm. He looked so peaceful, Grif wanted to go give him a kiss, but he didn’t dare try to wake him. Simmons was naturally stressed out all the time. It seemed like the only time he was calm was when he was asleep.

  
Grif slipped a teddy bear to Jake and Mira. He was going to quietly slip out the door. Simmons stirred. “Hey Grif, are you back already? Oh man, I didn’t mean to fall asleep like that.”

  
“Yeah I’m back. It was nice hanging out with Dex and Kai like that, but I was missing you and the twins.” He looked a little embarrassed to admit that.

  
“It was no fun without you and Jake always complaining and Mira’s constant whining.”

  
Simmons gave him a little smile. He knew how much Grif loved him and the kids, no matter how much he complained about them. “You guys do anything fun?” He yawned as he tried to wake up.

  
“There was a little carnival in town. Wasn’t too much there, but I did win some little toys for the twins. It only took me an hour and about fifty bucks to win them, but they deserved some treat. I brought back some cotton candy too.”

  
Mira heard that. “What! There’s cotton candy? I want some.”

  
Grif grinned, that was his girl. “What a miraculous recovery you made girlie, maybe I should have used the junk food remedy earlier. How ya feelin’ kiddo?”

  
“A lot better, Daddy’s a good doctor. And he’s so cool too!”

  
Grif tried not to laugh. “Oh really?”

Simmons sat back with a cocky look on his face. He waited five years for Mira to realize that.

  
Mira looked up at Simmons with hopeful eyes. “Can I have my cotton candy now?”

  
“No, you can have some after dinner.”

  
She looked so disappointed. “Aww, Daddy.”

  
Grif laughed. “There just went your cool status, ya nerd.”

  
Jake finally woke up, he noticed his teddy bear. “Hi Daddy, thanks for the bear.”

  
“You’re welcome buddy, how’s your foot?” Grif reached over to tousle his hair.

  
“It still hurts, but it feels better.”

Grif tried not to worry about him, his face looked awfully pale. Jake had been sting by a honeybee a few weeks ago and he was fine, he shouldn’t have any allergic reactions now. Mira was the one who would be allergic.

  
“That’s good buddy.”

  
Simmons thought the house was too quiet. “Is everyone back or just you?”

  
“Dex and Kai wanted to stay a little longer at the carnival. Dex had his eye on a soccer ball he wanted to win. Mom came back, she’s starting dinner.” He looked at Jake. “Feel like coming downstairs later to eat with us Jakey?”

  
“I don’t know if I can walk yet.” He looked sad, he didn’t like not being included in family activities.

  
“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you down.” Grif didn’t want to leave him alone.

  
“And I’ll make you some more baking soda mix. That’ll help with the rest of the pain.” Simmons had a hold of his hand.

  
Mira gave him a playful elbow. “You have to come down Jake. You still never showed me your disappearing quarter trick. We can do that together later.”

  
Jake looked worried. “I can’t move around well enough with this foot…anyway, I couldn’t get the trick to work.” His face burned red, he hated admitting that.

  
“Cause you didn’t have me as your assistant. I’ll help you out Jakey.”

  
He allowed himself a small smile. He felt better knowing his family still loved him. He was loving all the extra attention. He was always referred to as the ‘well behaved’ child. He often felt passed over for Dex’s problems or Mira’s temper tantrums.

He could get used to this.

 

 

A couple days later, Jake’s could almost walk on his foot again. He sat on the bed, grumbling to Simmons. “I can actually walk again, and we have to leave.”

  
Simmons never saw him pout so much, that was usually Mira’s job. “Yes, I’m sorry Jakey, we’ll try to squeeze another vacation in for you at some point.”

  
Jake’s head dropped. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s not the same though.”

  
“Well don’t forget, your Grandma Grif promised to come visit us for the holidays, and my Mom is going to stay with us. That’ll be fun for you.”

  
Jake’s eyes lit up, he really bonded with his Grandma Simmons. “Yay, is staying forever?”

  
“Well, she could if she wanted to, but it’s probably for a few weeks while she finds an apartment to rent.”

  
“Can she babysit us?”

  
“As much as she wants to. If she can you handle you kids, that is. You got your luggage all packed up?”

  
“Yeah Daddy, I think I remembered everything. I had to pack Mira’s for her, so I had to rush to pack mine.”

  
Simmons smiled, those two sounded so much like him and Grif. Speaking of Grif, he hadn’t seen him for a while. “Where’s your Dad and Dex?”

  
“Dex took off for the beach this morning, Daddy went to go get him.”

  
“Hmm, I hope those two hurry up.”

 

  
  
Grif found Dex standing on the beach, staring out at the waves. “Hey kiddo, whatcha’ looking at?”

  
Dex was zoned out, he didn’t hear his Dad come up behind him. “Hi Dad, I just love the beach.” He looked like something was wrong.

  
“Something bothering you?”

  
He hesitated. “I don’t wanna leave, I feel like I belong here.”

  
His voice faltered, he struggled to hold back his tears. Surprisingly, Grif understood. Looking out at the clear, blue water, and hearing the crashing of the waves, all the childhood memories came rushing back to him. A lot of them were terrible, but there were a few fun times, especially with Kai when she wasn’t bugging him.

  
“I think I know what you mean. I spent my whole childhood trying to get out of here. Now, all these years later, I’d love to come back.”

  
Dex looked surprised. “Really, you acted like you hated coming back.”

  
Grif shrugged. “Uhh, I kinda of act like that, especially when I don’t want to admit that I’m wrong about something. I’ll make a deal with you. I promise, we will come back. I’ll challenge you to a surfing contest, followed by a hotdog eating contest. How’s that?”

  
Dex finally smiled. “Okay, you got it Dad.”

  
Grif grinned and put his arm around his son. “C’mon, your Dad’s probably wondering where we are.”

  
As he followed Dex back up to the house, he couldn’t help taking a second look at the beach.

Yeah…he definitely needed to come back home.  
  



	14. Chapter 14

 

Simmons was exhausted by the time the family arrived back home at a Chorus. All three kids were moping around the kitchen. Five minutes back and they were already complaining of having nothing to do.

  
Simmons sat down wearily in a kitchen chair. “Kids really, you all complained the entire trip back that you wanted to be home, now that you’re here, you’re bored?”

  
Mira nodded. “Yep, pretty much.”

  
“It’s a nice day, go out and play. I still have a lot of unpacking to do, your Dad already went to take a nap. He’ll be passed out for the rest of the day.”

  
Mira and Jake willingly went outside, but Dex hung around, he looked worried. “Uh Dad? When we left, Chloe was mad at me. Do you think she’s still mad?”

  
“Just go over and apologize to her. You two fight all the time, she always forgives you. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  
“She could give me another bloody nose, she’s dangerous.”

  
Simmons had to laugh. Deep down, his son was as terrified of girls as he was. “Don’t worry, I don’t think Wash will let her hurt you.”

  
As if on cue, Wash was at the screen door. “No, of course I wouldn’t. It just so happens that someone else wants to apologize too.”

  
Chloe was hiding behind him, with a sulky look on her face. It was obvious that Wash forced her into an apology. She stared down at the ground. “Sorry I decked in the nose.”

  
Dex looked relieved. “I’m sorry I made fun of braces, I was only kidding around. Hey, I won a new soccer ball while I was on vacation. Do you wanna play?”

  
Her face lightened up. “Yeah sure, let’s go to my house. We can play soccer with David and the twins.”

  
“Cool, you know your braces don’t look nearly as bad as I thought they did.”

Simmons flinched, Dex was asking for it.

  
Chloe laughed and lightly punched him in the arm. “Shut up.” They took off to start their game.

  
Wash shook his head. “Well, they’re friends again. Did you have fun on your vacation?”

  
Simmons groaned. “Yes and no, it was an interesting experience. But it was good to get away.”

  
“By the way ‘Lina called a few minutes ago. Your Mom has interview with Emily at the hospital. So she’s really relocating here?”

  
“Yes, she works as a nurse’s aide. I thought Emily could use some extra help at the hospital. Mom will be staying with us for a while. I just didn’t realize her plane landed already.”

  
“It wasn’t too long ago. We weren’t sure when you guys were landing, so she headed straight up to the hospital.”

  
Simmons nodded his head. “I better get up there and meet her. Are you and Tucker okay with watching the kids?”

  
“Sure, it’s no problem. They’ll probably still be playing soccer by the time you get back.”

  
Simmons rushed down to hospital. He was missing his Mom already.

  
  
He easily found his Mom, she was chitchatting with Dr. Grey’s receptionist. She gave him a big smile when she saw him. It had only been a week since they last seen each other, but it felt like an eternity.

  
“Mom! Why didn’t you tell me your flight came in early? I would have been down here sooner.”

  
“Oh that’s fine, I wasn’t going to bother you. This hospital is such a nice place. The people are so nice, I’m going to like working here.”

  
He was so glad his Mom was making friends. Dr. Grey flittered down the hallway. “Hi hi hi! Happy to see you both made it here. Go ahead and wait in my office. Maddie is in there playing, she’ll keep you company. It’s a liiitle busy busy busy today!”

  
Meredith frowned a little, she seemed confused. “Is she always like that?”

  
Simmons didn’t even think twice about her behavior. “Yeah, you get used to it after a while. She really is a medical genius, I wouldn’t have the kids if it wasn’t for her.”

  
He led his Mom to the office. Maddie looked up at him when the door opened and smiled. “Uncle Simmons, I missed you!” She ran to give him a hug. He picked her up.

  
“Hi Maddie, I missed you too. I brought you back some gifts.” He slipped a brightly colored Hawaiian lei around her neck.

  
“Wow, are those real flowers?”

  
“Yes, Mira picked out those colors just for you. I brought a bag of candy for you too, but you need to ask your Mom’s permission first.”

  
She gave him a big smile, it dimmed down some when she noticed Simmons’ Mom. She was getting better with dealing with strangers, but she still got shy very easily. She hid her face against his shoulder.

  
He understood and wanted to help her. “Don’t be scared Maddie, this is my Mother, she won’t hurt you.” She slowly lifted her head to look at her.

  
Simmons looked at his Mom. “This is Maddie, she’s Dr. Grey and Carolina’s daughter. She’s a little shy, as you can see.”

  
Meredith smiled at the little girl. “Aww, you are the most precious little girl ever!”

  
Maddie’s cheeks turned pink with pleasure over the compliment, she was well aware of how cute she was. Simmons knew how much she heard that day after day from Dr. Grey’s patients. Maddie was definitely spoiled, but she wasn’t spoiled rotten.

  
She returned Meredith’s smile. “Hi!” She decided pretty quickly that she made a new friend today. When Meredith reached over to hold her, she willingly went into her arms.

  
Dr. Grey flounced loudly through the room, startling everyone except Maddie. She didn’t even flinch, she was used to her Mom’s erratic behavior by now.

  
“Momma, Uncle Simmons brought me flowers. And I made a new friend!”

  
“That’s great Maddie. That’s a pretty lei, you look so beautiful.” She gave her a kiss in the cheek. She finally could acknowledge Simmons’ Mom. “Hi, I’m Dr. Emily Grey. You’re applying for the nurse’s aide position?”

  
“Yes I am, here’s my resume.” She tried to hand Grey her papers.

  
Grey only shook her head. “No need for that. I don’t run a conventional hospital. You got the job.”

  
Meredith looked even more confused. “What? Is that all there is to it?” 

  
Simmons tried shaking his head. His Mother was overthinking the situation. With Dr. Grey, there wasn’t much rhyme or reason behind her way of thinking. It was best to just go with it.

  
“Oh yes, I already got all the information I need. Maddie obviously likes you, so you’re in. Anyway, you’re Simmons’ Mom. That makes you a good person in my opinion. So, you still wanna work for me?”

  
Meredith’s shock turned to amusement. Though Grey was a little strange, she really liked her. “Alright then, I’d love to work here.”

  
Grey smiled warmly at her. “Great, I’m glad to have you. I’ll get your schedule made up, and we’re good to go.” She took Maddie in her arms. “Go home and enjoy some quality with your family, doctor’s orders. I plan on doing the same thing with this little one. Ta-ta.”

  
Meredith was trying to be brave. “Well, She seems…nice.”

  
Simmons laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to her. Come on Mom, let’s go home.” He felt so proud to be able to take care of his Mom like this.

  
Vacations were nice, but there was no place like home.  
  
  



End file.
